My Mission
by scarlet letters in the snow
Summary: Shikamaru has to gather a group of 6 Nin to take with him to Suna for a treaty, so that they can form an alliance with Fire and the hidden mist, but what happens when one of those six is not Ino? read and review keep in mind that the rating may go up : DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

**disclaimer: I don't 'Naruto'. lol. God I wish I did though. **

**CHAPTER ONE**

**-A Change In Scenery -**

* * *

**(Shikamaru)**

* * *

Shikamaru walked amongst the dry leaves with his hands buried deep inside his pockets, his fingers wrapped around a coin. He rolled it between his knuckles absentmindedly as he walked on towards his minds destination. His eyes darting around cautiously as he looked at the shops.

It is the day after The Festival of The Hokage.

_Late September_, He thought, his eyes slanted drowsily, he lifts a hand in greeting to some far away voice of a person who had walked by momentarily, his eyes glued to the frosty pavement as he passes the Flower Shop without glancing at the window.

He doesn't have to though.

He resists the urge to check. To let his eyes flicker to see if she made it home safely from the Festival. He bites his lip, and puts a curve in his step and immediately he is walking away, his eyes on the frost bitten road he had passed before. Because he is a coward.

--

Instead he finds himself sitting next to a man he barely knows. His father.

His eyes flicker over the battle scars, the beady eyes, his own eyes, the same hair. The only difference in them is one is old, and one is young, one is built, and the other is lanky.

Shikamaru looks down at his hands. They are pressed tightly together as he intertwines his fingers, he lifts them to his chin to play with the small stubble that had started to grow there, and he frowns, moving his piece in complete silence.

His eyes return to their previous resting place. Where his hands had been and are now his skinny yet well toned legs.

He did not pride himself in all the muscles and glamour, nor his incredible IQ, for he was a simple man, and those things simply did not matter in everyday life.

But for the first time, in at least seven years, he hated his baseball player figure. He hated the thin legs, although they were muscular, they were not by any means anything to faun over. Nor where his arms, although he had secretly been working those in Tai Jutsu training with Neji. His abdomen was thin, which he did not mind, because he had quite a sporting six- pack hiding beneath his fishnet. But he was still troubled. And he did not understand it.

Shikamaru closed his eyes, and let the wind beat upon his face.

_"Your mission **Nara Shikamaru**, will be to gather a few of the strongest ninja into one cell, from there you will leave for Sunagakure, to engage in a tactical meeting with the Kazekage and their Village council on the arrangements of the new treaty with The Hidden Mist.." Tsunade's serious gaze fixed upon him, her fingers pressing into her temples as she spoke the very last of his debriefing. " Do not cause any trouble while you are on Alley Grounds, and only bring who you see fit, no charity cases, I trust you will use your better judgement."_

And of course Shikamaru had. He had asked Shino,Chouji, Tenten and Neji, and Sakura so they would have a medic nin. Because those are the people he saw fit. The only problem was, that when a certain blond haired kunoichi found out she was being left behind, she voiced her opinions on that matter. In the Middle of the feast with the Hokage...

* * *

Shikamaru let his eyes dance around the room, his fingers wrapping around a string of lint in his pocket as he sat in a metal card table chair. He was tired, mostly from the two week mission to grass he had just returned from, and the news that he would have to go on another in three days time.

_He looked around the room casually, his eyes falling upon Shino, who stood in the corner of the room with the Hyuuga Heiress and played with one of his beetles. _

_**Check**, Thought Shikamaru as he mentally scratched Shino off of his list. _

_He was glad that this mission hadn't gotten out yet, especially because he didn't want people to be calling upon favors. He couldn't loan out positions at a time like this. Every stage was crucial._

_Again he let his eyes wander, and they shortly found two of their marks; Tenten and Neji Hyuuga. **Check check **anddddddd **Check **He looked to his side to see Chouji waving a chicken leg around vividly explaining to her that she had fried the best chicken he had ever eaten, next to his mother's of course..**Check**_

_With a sigh he leaned back, then heaved himself to his feet, instantly he shoved a piece of yellow parchment into their hands, with the names on them. He placed a hand on chouji's shoulder. "You talk to Neji and Tenten, Chouji," He turned his beady black eyes to Sakura, "And you go round up Shino and Hinata, and meet me on the roof top." _

_They looked at him for a moment, before he quirked a brow and practically barked for them to go._

_Shikamaru sighed in frustration and pushed his hands deep inside of his pockets, and made his way to the giant red doors in the far corner of the room, keeping his head on his feet as he shuffled through the crowd._

_As soon as he escaped the humid mass of people he took a deep breath of air that he didn't know he had been holding. _

_He was counting himself lucky though, because he hadn't ran into 'Her' yet tonight, and that was always a good sign. Well, it most certainly wasn't because he was avoiding her, no that wasn't it, because he had promised to escort her here...but that was before the mission._

_Shikamaru pressed his fingers to his temples and rubbed them as hard as he could, trying to pry her out of his thoughts, because he knew if he thought of her too long she was bound to show up and ruin-_

_"Shika-kun?"_

_Shikamaru held his breath, his body slumping against the railing of the balcony as he waited for her to leave. _

_'maybe if I play dead...nah then she'd just kick me." He thought as he pushed his fingers into the pocket on his vest and fished out a really beat up looking cigarette. _

_He examined it, looking down his nose as he pushed his bottom jaw out. The cigarette was coated with dirt and his finger prints from rolling them during the rain storm in Grass Country. He scowled as he felt a hand tap his shoulder._

_"Hm?"_

_"You didn't come pick me up." She said, her voice hiding the anger with a sweet tone. _

_Oh yes be sweet for now.._

_"Too troublesome to walk all the way there when I was already here." He said Matter-o-factly._

_"Oh," She whispered almost to herself._

_Shikamaru's right eye flickered over to her. Something was wrong, usually she would be busting his chops, or at least hitting him over the head with some un-identified flying object, hurtling at him with her super human- no monstrous woman strength._

_"Why are you upset?" _

_"I'm not." She said, leaning against the railing then hoping onto it. _

_She looked at him for a long time. Her eyes searching his empty ones as he simply stood there, letting her gaze at him. _

_He felt that if he talked he might ruin the moment, and reality might set in. And she would be the real Ino. __He walked forward, resting his hands on either side of her, leaning his head down so that his eyes were slightly darkened.._

_"So where did you put her?" He asked bluntly, his eyebrow flickering up questioningly._

_"Who?What are you talking about, Shika?"_

_Shikamaru felt a smile tug at his lips, but he suppressed it. He had to get at least one laugh tonight. "Ino. Where did you put her when you body swapped?"_

_"Oh har har." She drawled sarcastically, her eyes flickering with that sudden anger, before it died down again._

_"But really what is eating you?"_

_"Well I have been thinking alot and I really wanted to-"_

_"Here we are!" Chouji said as he pushed open the doors, his eyes immediately widening as he saw Ino._

_--_

_Shikamaru mentally cursed them for their bad timing, as he peeled his iron grip from the stone balcony railing, his eye peering over his shoulder with that normal drowsy expression he always held. But his body language was far from normal. This was not how it was supposed to happen._

_Ino wasn't supposed to know until they were gone. And safe in Suna._

_Ino reached forward and grabbed the front of his Chounin Vest, her little hand shaking. "Debriefing?" She inquired, her eyes reflecting hurt and understanding._

_"Yes debriefing, we were chosen for a mission, Ino." Sakura said calmly, her eyes sympathetic as she stepped forward, but she stopped once Shikamaru's head turned back towards Ino._

_He placed his large, calloused hand over her small fingers and coaxed them off of his Vest. "Yes debriefing, we are going on a mission."_

_Ino looked up at him with watery eyes. "Oh, sorry to interrupt." She spat, grabbing hold of his vest as she plopped down off of the railing, and stood on her tiptoes. "Happy nineteenth birthday Shikamaru." She growled, thrusting a small, blue velvet box into his chest pocket as she turned haughtily, her long hair striking him across the face, huffing as she stomped to the wooden doors and disappeared behind them._

_But he knew that wouldn't be the last of her he would see before Suna.._

* * *

"-I said match, son." His father chuckled, waving a hand in front of Shikamaru's face. "I win."

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly, but his face returned to it's normal, bored facet immediately. "I was...distracted." He said, averting his gaze as he took in a deep breath of air.

Shikaku settled back into his rocking chair, humming a small tune as he examined his sons troubled facial expression. "I heard about Ino telling you off." He said simply, a smirk playing on his features.

Shikamaru's eyes flickered up to his father angrily. "Oh? Who told you this?" He managed through gritted teeth

"No one worth mentioning, but your mother was there and from what she says I hear Ino has a ...**_colorful_**...vocabulary." Shikaku let out another deep chuckle, enjoying the discomfort on his sons' face. "You know son, you could have saved yourself all of the trouble by telling her first."

Shikamaru's face twisted into a scowl as his fingers gripped the arm of the rocking chair tightly. It was one of Shikamaru's few and far between performances of anger. "Oh yes you try telling her that the mission report is classified, and you tell her that she can not come because you don't want to have to watch two backs every waking moment," He barked angrily, snatching his drink from the side table and taking a hearty gulp before slamming it back down on the poor oak stand, that creaked in protest. "And you try telling her that she is more of a liability than an asset, I am sure that it will go over quite nicely." He spat sarcastically.

His father merely raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Yes but you know how those Yamanaka's are...stubborn till the day they die."

"Exactly why she can't go." Shikamaru murmured, averting his gaze from his father's.

"Aa." His father grunted, pushing himself out of the rocker, and walking slowly across the porch.

He stopped beside his son and pat him hard on the shoulder. "Go feed the Deer." He reminded him.

"hn."

--

Shikamaru mumbled as he hauled the giant buckets of deer feed back and forth from the barn.

He pressed the back of his gloved hand to his forehead and wiped the sweat off of his brow. It was hot even though it was almost the end of September, and he had long since abandoned his shirt on the fence post, to let it wring out.

He grunted as he put the pole through the giant handles and 'powerlifted' it up onto his shoulders with ease.

He kicked the fence open to the feeding area, scattering the deer in the enclosure."Grub time, Sisters." He called to the does, slapping a stick against the pink barrel like bucket. "Munch time, Brothers." He groaned, kicking the blue bucket as he walked out of the enclosure and spread the corn about on the ground, blinking back the sweat that ran in his eyes.

He set back on the fence, simply watching them graze as he filled both of the buckets to the brim with water, and by the end of the day he would be doing this all over again.

He sighed and looked up at the clouds, but today he did not want to look at endless seas of blue and white, because that is all that he would see on his mission to Suna.

Shikamaru raked his teeth over his bottom lip as he turned the faucet off and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Water time!" He called, clicking his tongue against his teeth.

He watched the herd trot over as he backed away from the fence and grabbed his shirt, his work here was done.

--

"I'm not her husband, ma." He grumbled, trying to slip through the kitchen and past his mother while she was turned toward the stove.

"Don't you try to run off while I'm not looking Shikamaru Nara." His mother barked, turning around and shaking her wooden spoon at him, sending little boiling slashes of soup onto his shirtless chest.

"Damn it, ma." He growled, rubbing his chest as he glared at her.

"And don't you cuss in my house either young man!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as his mother came down upon him with her speech of how a righteous young Shinobi should respect his mother and listen to women and be honorable and blah blah blah...

He looked right past her, his past experiences telling him to simple stare at her forehead whilst she rammble about absolutely nothing. He felt like that kid on that show with the blah blah parents...what was it..Charlie Brown? Yes, he was sure it was that.

He returned his attention to the vein that was sprouting on his mother's forehead as he patience started to wear thin. "Go apologize to her!"

Shikamaru's head snapped back down to his mother's gaze, his eyebrows furrowed together in incomprehension. "What?" He spat, entirely too rude for his mother's liking as she brought a fragile hand across his cheek. In the same exact spot Ino had nailed him last night...

* * *

Shikamaru leaned against the railing of the balcony with a whimpering sigh. His patience being stretched almost to it's limits these past months with all of the high ranked missions and jobs Tsunade-samma was pushing on him. He was starting to form ideas of his rank being moved up to Jounin soon, from all the higher class work she has been giving him, and all of his involvement in ANBU with his father recently. A minute smile flashed over his features as he began to ramble about the mission on autopilot, while his mouth spoke of the mission, his mind thought only about what Ino was saying before Chouji interrupted them.

_Blast his chubby friends timing!_

_"- I have been thinking alot and I really wanted to-" What did you want to what, Ino? He wondered as he let his gaze meander over to the giant wooden doors. Soon his speech was over, and everyone was just standing there looking at him strangely. _

_"We will meet at the gates in two-days...dismissed." He said tiredly, waving his hand in dismissal as he pushed through the giant wooden doors._

_Everyone's eyes turned to him as he walked in, and his eyebrow quirked but he thought nothing of it other than the creaking of the door. "Door needs to be oiled..." He thought grimly as he spied platinum blond hair swing in his direction, then the flash of cerulean eyes turn away from him. _

_He pressed his hand deep into his pocket to fiddle with the small red velvet box he had gotten for Ino. _

_It was an unspoken agreement with them since they were very young, that they would get each other birthday presents, that they would be small, and from the heart, and so when he saw this he knew he simply had to get it for her._

_He spotted her hair flash again, but the lights dimmed and music started to play loudly, although it was a slow dancing song. _

_Soon Shikamaru was being bumped into by men and women alike as he pressed on towards Ino, who seemed bent on escape._

_Finally he was so close he could reach her, and so he did. He grasped her by the arm and pulled her in towards his chest, his eyes diving deep into hers as their gazes locked._

_"What do you want?" She huffed, looking away._

_Shikamaru leaned his head down to hear her, and so that she could hear him over the booming music of the orchestra that was playing.._

_"It is midnight." He said, his voice barely audible over the loud voices and music._

_"Your point?" She barked, trying to pull her arm away but only succeeding in bumping into his chest. _

_He smirked down at her and pulled out the red velvet box. "Happy nineteenth birthday, Ino." He said, pressing the red velvet into her palm._

_She immediately opened it, and staired down at the small hair pin, that was a dark purple, and a giant flower that you could push into your hair.._

_Her eyes shimmered as she looked up at him, but very quickly she remembered the mission. Too quickly for Shikamaru's tastes._

_She pulled on his arm, pulled him all the way out of those giant wooden doors and kept her hold tight upon his arm._

_"Why am I not going on this mission with you? We are always together." She said, her eyes full of incomprehension."Where is it?"_

_"Why?" He asked, his brow raising slightly._

_"Just because I want to know where you will be, and so I can expect how long to be gone."_

_"It is in Suna but- No Ino your not going this time."_

_"But why?" She whined, pulling on the hem of his vest like a child might._

_"Because Ino, it would not be productive for you to tag along, I already chose the necessary members for this mission to go by with at least 73% success, If I added you, that would dock off at least thirty percent of our success rate." He said Matter-o-factly._

_Ino just look up at him with those shimmering blue eyes and growled. "But wouldn't my-"_

_"No, there are no need for any of your infiltration or spying skills, Ino." Shikamaru sighed heavily, his hand enveloping hers and pulling it form his vest, yet again. " You just aren't needed at the moment."_

_Wrong thing to say- He thought too late, as he sighed heavily. - wrong thing to do._

_Ino became suddenly very quiet, her eyes down cast as she looked away._

_"Ino-" He started, but her hands colliding with his chest stopped him mid-sentence._

_"Fuck you!" She screamed, her fists beating against his chest as she let out silent sobs. "I'm not needed? Is that your way of saying I'm not strong enough? Or that you just don't want me around while you go visit your little girlfriend? Well fine! I won't be around! not now! and not ever! Bastard!" _

_And with that she ran off, the little red velvet box clutched tightly in her hands..._

_Shikamaru sighed and turned back to the doors, to find that they were very much open, and a very surprised mother, Yoshino, Shikamaru's mother, stood stunned, while the rest of the crowd at the festival stood in a similar silence..._

* * *

Shikamaru pulled his fishnet shirt over his head as he climbed upstairs and kicked open his door.

_**Still living with mommy and daddy..pathetic..**_He thought as he looked about his messy room.

Shouji sets laying about the floor, old food wrappers..and some with food still in there.

Shikamaru stepped over it all and checked and re checked his list, because he was leaving in the morning, at dawn.

--

He awoke at five o' clock sharp, with an hour till set off, but if he knew Neji then they would be there at five thirty.

With a exasperated sigh and the most elderly sounding grunt he could muster, he pushed himself up off of the bed and groggily started to peel off his clothing and change into a new, freshly washed pair.

He picked up his tooth brush and squirted tooth paste on the bristles with his eyes half open, the faucet running full blast as he rinsed his mouth thoroughly, repeatedly, then mouth washed repeatedly.

He stood up refreshed and slightly woken up, his eyes wide from the cold water he had splashed in his own face.

Now, He thought, pulling all of the necessary things on and securing the pack on his shoulders, he climbed out his window and sent chakra to his feet, and jumped into the trees.

He arrived at her window in no more than five minutes. Ten minutes till take off if they wanted to be there on time.

Shikamaru sighed and tapped on her window, his eyes blurry and his face hard because his face was numb from sleep.

"Go away." He heard her muffled cry.

He merely sighed and pushed the window open by force. His fingers ignited with Chakra he forced them on the area behind the locks, then merely slid the window open and jumped down onto her bed.

" I came to say goodbye, I'll be gone for quite a while." He murmured as he sat down, straddling the lump under the purple comforter.

He grasp that top of the sheets and yanked them down, only to meet a pillow covering her face. "Ino don't be like this," He drawled tiredly, his eyes rolling skyward as she gripped the pillow tighter. "Your going to wish you told me bye when I'm gone, but you will have had missed your chance, better do it while you can." He tempted, pulling her fingers off of the pillow one by one. _**Or better yet...if you dont say bye to me Ino...I will miss you..so turn over and say goodbye,**_ that is what he wanted to say, but he wouldn't, his male ego just would not allow such...emotion for a simple goodbye.

"Fine." He growled, tearing the pillow from her arms and glaring down at her. "Bye Ino." He said tonelessly, throwing the pillow down beside her as he stormed off of the bed, and disapeared out her window.

"Shika.." She started, but she simply sat quietly...her eyes starting to water.

--

Shikamaru was surprisingly the first one to meet at the Gates, followed by Chouji, then Neji and Tenten and then Sakura and Shino.

Shikamaru, despite that they were an hour ahead of schedule, was in an even fouler mood than he normally was in the morning, and so he immediately barked their disembarkment and jumped into the shadows of the trees, looking back at the formation of Leaf Ninja that follow closely behind he couldn't help but feel that something was missing. that she was missing.

When had she become a vital part of the embarkment? When did he start relying on her to make him lunch and dinner and prepare his pack and his medical supplies and his- oh she did everything.

Shikamaru mentally sighed, but he showed no signs of tiredness on the outside as he remained a fair distance ahead of the group, who were struggling to keep up with his pace.

He slowed down slightly, not wanting to wear himself out in the first quarter of his trip. He looked back to see Neji and Tenten taking up his rear, and Chouji,Sakura, and Shino in the caboose.

Shikamaru turned back forward, his eyes on the rising sun as it penetrated through the thick, lush green leaves. He sighed, this was going to be a very long journey.

* * *

By the time they reached the sand, they had traveled so quickly, they still had another day before they were supposed to arrive, but because of the quick-steady pace Shikamaru held, there was no waste of any time.

It was dusk when the high walls of Sunagakure were seen over the sand dunes.

Shikamaru put his hand up as a signal to yield as he walked forward slowly. He motioned for them to follow.

six shadows passed over the shimmering blue sand as quickly as possible, the only thing seen were the sand that shifted slightly under their feet as they crept forward.

Shikamaru held his hand up for them to yield again as they crawled up a dune and looked down at a camp of people- of ninja.

"Well, if it isn't the cry baby." A smirking female said, walking out from the shadows with her hands placed on her hips, a grin apparent on her lips.

"Temari." Shikamaru grunted, letting his eyes drink her in momentarily before he shifted to her comrades who sat huddled by a small fire.

"We've been waiting all day." She said, her tone flirtatious but still holding a serious note.

Shikamaru discarded the flirting tone. "Well, we are early, I am glad to see you have such high expectations of us."

"I'm glad you can fulfill them." She retorted, smirking playfully as she turned away and motioned for everyone to clear camp. "Let's get you tired travelers to Suna as soon as possible." She said, the smirk constantly dancing over her lips.

Shikamaru sighed.

This was going to be a very long mission.


	2. Chapter 2, Flower Petals

**disclaimer: I don't 'Naruto'. **

**CHAPTER.. Two**

**-Flower petals-**

* * *

**(Shikamaru)**

Shikamaru sighed heavily as he patiently walked beside Temari, his eyes drooping slightly in tiredness. He wrapped his calloused fingers around the coin in his right pocket and let his eyes wander up to the cold midnight sky. One particularly bright star catching his eye. Briefly he pondered whether or not it belonged in one of the constellations, that Ino had forced him to memorize, but he soon dismissed the thought as they passed through the gates.

He met the eyes of a guard and upon further inspection he realized with a jolt that it was Kankurou. The Puppet master merely smirked in greeting, then broke away from his post and carelessly slid down the banister of a guard rail, and landed beside him. Shikamaru nodded in greeting, then scowled as he met Temari's gaze.

They were led behind the small square adobe houses, the scent of dust and straw filling their nostrils as they wound up the winding staircase of the Kazekage building.

Shikamaru kept his eyes on the back of Temari's sandals, not daring to look over the straight-fifty-foot drop down to the pavement, he merely sidled his way over to the wall and placed his hand on it reassuringly. Hoping that the nin who followed did not take it as a sign of weakness or illness. Because if he had to turn and look at them, he knew his face would be ill, and that he might wobble off the side and fall to his death. And so he did not look up from her heels, but merely squinted in concentration.

It would be an understatement to say that the Shadow user did not fear heights, in fact he dreaded them. (One of the reasons Ino questioned his dreams of becoming a cloud, she decided to inform him that clouds hovered numerous of miles above the surface, and that he could fall to his death if he were one, but Shikamaru merely told her that clouds were not living, and they did not fall.) He was deathly afraid of sheer drops, infinite death. It wasn't the dying part that scared him, because if he was afraid of dying, why would he be a Shinobi? Or A Chounin for that matter? But it was the sense of falling. It was the feeling of knowing that you were going to die, and not having one thing to do to stop your death. It was that there were not numerous possibilities for him to rule out. It was unchangeable, inevitable, and he could not make it practical, and that was why he hated heights. Merely because they threw his mental balance off, and they gave him splitting headaches.

Before he knew it they had arrived in the Guest wing, the Southern most portion of the building, that was newly referbished and smelt of new dust and new straw. Shikamaru scowled as Temari led him to his room, which so happened to be right beside her own, fortunately for him though, Neji had excepted his offer for a switch, which brought him all the way down the hall.

It wasn't that he did not like Temari, but well- it was that he no longer liked Temari. She was clingy, boisterous and Jealous of any other female that came within a fifteen foot radius of his body. And he could simply not have a woman who was on his back all the time about every single thing- He shook his head. Every woman he knew was like Temari in one way or the other, including Ino, he concluded.

Temari was the bossy type, yes she was very intelligent, almost as intelligent as Shikamaru thought himself to be, but there was one thing that unnerved him. She was almost an exact replica of Ino.

The way she flaunted herself in front of men, the way she held herself, carried herself even. And that smirk that she directed at him, her eyes were ravenous like she wanted to eat his flesh. And Shikamaru thought that he had relatively nice looking skin, and that he would love to keep it.

But he could not deny, if one were to ask, that he had once fallen hard for the Sand Kunoichi at one point in time. well he could deny it, but everyone knew. He had fallen very, very hard.

At first she was everything he could ask for.

She had simple needs, she was slightly intelligent and she knew how to take care of herself, but things then took a turn for the worse.

She became needy and clingy and constantly battling for his attention. She was more like his body guard than anything and Shikamaru had a code: And that code was that men were superior over women, with the exception of Tsunade- because well...that woman was different.

Men were supposed to take care of their women, supposed to be soul providers while the women supplied him with nourishment and cared for his needs every once in a while, but what had started out as a good thing had now gone sour. And he did not want ot continue, and she had agreed, albeit a little too quickly.

Maybe she had not really felt a connection. Shikamaru hadn't and that was why the whole secret masquerade had caved in on it's self. And now they were both free.

And Shikamaru had been relatively happy. But now things were different, and he found that when he lay in bed at night, he desired companionship.

Perhaps it was that he had pushed his hormones aside when he was younger, picturing the perfect woman and then waiting for her to come along- she never did. And now his hormones were pushing the the surface. And because he was inexperienced, for he had not been through relationships when he was supposed to, he was now having difficulty with acquiring the skills to actually date a woman, let alone stay with her for the remainder of his life on this planet.

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head, He should be focusing on the mission, not women.

With lazy hands he reached out to the door knob and turned it, and stumbled into the dark room, his eyes soon adjusting to the candle lit lamps lit above the futon, he stepped in and locked the door behind him. Although any ninja could enter even if the door was locked, if they really wanted too, he felt more secure with it that way. More private.

And after toeing himself out of his sandals, he pulled his shirt over his head and fumbled with his belt buckle in the dark. Sliding his black trousers past his knees and stepping out of them he kicked them to the corner of the room and stretched, one hand above his head and the other scratching his stomach as he meandered over to the Futon and pulled the covers down.

As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was dreaming.

Dreaming about sun flower petals..

**

* * *

**

**(INO)**

* * *

Ino held the small red velvet box in her hand as she pushed herself out of bed. She walked to the mirror, her reflection casting back an unwelcome scene before her.

Her hair was tousled, her mascara running down from her eyes messily and her eyelashes clumped together, dew drop tears flickering in the sunlight that cascaded from the window behind her, that hovered over her bed. She sighed heavily, pressing her fingers under her eyelids and harshly rubbing them upward. She glared at the offending black substance that resided on her fingers afterwards.

"I have to work today," She said, mostly to herself as she clutched the velvet box in her palm.

She walked into the bathroom and started a warm bath, her towel left to sit on top of the toilet lid while she removed the bobby pins and berets from her golden tresses. She looked at the red box, that sat open on her counter with a small sad smile.

"I can't believe he left me here." She growled, slapping the lid shut as she reached over and turned the water off.

She jerked her giant shirt- Shikamaru's shirt which was a dark forest green, that seemed to be his favorite color- over her head and folded it, pressing it down on the counter and looking at her naked reflection.

She sighed, her hand coming to rest over her slightly larger breasts, her eyes on the small pooch that had started to show. She regarded it as a growth of some sort, but it was merely from the lack of exercise. Although she was on one of her 'diets' again, her weight loss seemed to have slowed down, and it was hard to lose weight the old fashioned way. Maybe she would have to try something new? She hated trying new things. Especially diets.

Ino slowly sank into the almost scalding water, her eyes drooping considerably as she rested her head on the side of the tub.

She wondered what kind of things Shikamaru was doing. If he had arrived in Suna yet.

She sighed heavily. Why couldn't she go? He knew they were a matching set, that they worked more efficiently if they were together, and that it was safer for him if she was there.

She was constantly watching his back, although she knew he did the same for her. Was she a nuisance for him? Was that why he did not bring her? Or was it because he didn't want her in his business while he was in Suna? _**He has been getting alot of assignments to The Village Hidden in The Sand, lately. Very many. Did he request them?**_ She thought to herself as she brought the soapy rag over her petite wrist and scrubbed up her elbows.

--

Ino sat on her stool in front of the giant violet vanity in her room, the clock reading six twenty-five, which meant she had at least thirty minutes to get to work before she was counted late.

Ino ran her hands over her make-up brushes, and sighed, picking up the smallest and applying the most minute amount of base, then some pale gold eye blush, and rimmed her eyes with a fresh layer of mascara, to darken her long ebony lashes. She puckered her lips cutely, bringing her pale lipstick covered brush to her lips and dabbing it on expertly, before smacking and letting her hair down from her pale yellow towel.

She smiled sadly, opening the velvet box and pulling the beret from it, she combed her left side back and pinned it up, then shook her hair, and let her bangs fall into her face.

She smiled at her reflection, admiring the beret with a sad smile that continually tugged at her lips as she saw the light glint against it's surface. She looked beautiful.

--

She wrapped the strings double around her waist and fixed her apron, then grabbed a watering can and sprinkled the thirsty flowers.

"Good morning." She chimed, smiling down at the pansies affectionately as she poured the cool water on their thirsty roots.

She mentally noted that she sounded crazy, but no one was around to hear her, so she might as well let it go.

She let her hand rest on the wooden surface of the service counter, her bottom pressing against the stool as she lazily laid her head against her hand, and watched the suns' rays pour over the morning glory's by the window with a small smile.

It wasn't long before the bell to the shop door was ringing, but her eyes were stuck on the magazine before her.

"Excuse me," The voice drawled lazily.

Ino merely scowled, her eyes peeling from the magazine.

She looked up at Hatake Kakashi with an eyebrow quirked, her lips sliding back in a snarl, but she remained calm, although that familiar orange book was so close to her face.

"What can I help you with?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"The Hokage requests your presence." He sighed, looking up at her with a lazy eye.

The same sort of expression she was tired of, but aching for. She felt her heart flutter.(1) She stood up from her seat and unwrapped the bindings of her apron, then followed him out of the door, quickly shutting off all the lights and turning the neon sign to 'CLOSED' Instead of the blue and red flashing open. She sighed, as he walked slowly beside her, chancing a glance away from his book every now and then.

"Do you know what it is about?" She asked irritably, he was starting to get on her nerves.

"Something important." He said, raising a silver eyebrow at her as he pulled the book down and pressed it into his back pocket. "Ja ne." He waved with one hand, his fingers in the symbol of peace as he puffed into smoke.

Ino coughed and turned on her feet, a scowl on her face as she sprinted off to the Hokage tower. What could she possibly want now?

* * *

"WHAT?" Ino screeched, her hands balled up into tight fists, so tight that her fingers were turning white.

"Yamanaka-san, p-please calm down." Hinata said beside her, her hand gracefully landing on her fellow kunoichi's shoulder.

"Hinata is right Ino, calm your self or you will be removed." Tsunade said, her eyes slanting dangerously as she looked at the three before her. "As you have all just been informed, the ambassador of the Mist village are not Shinobi, and therefore they have hired our Shinobi to escort them, as a symbol of trust before the treaty is made, I chose you three for this job because, well simply because I saw you fit." Her eyes glinted mischievously as she pressed her thin hands together, lacing her fingers before resting her chin in her palms.

Ino took a quick glance to her right, Naruto and Hinata as her partners? How wrong of a group could that be- "But why Naruto?" Ino questioned, and perfectly shaped golden eyebrow raising to her hairline.

"Because Tsunade-sama was asked specifically by the Kazekage, It seems he has heard of Naruto's arrival from his last mission, and has some business he needs to take care of, and also because you need strength on your side if there is an ambush." Shizune said from her desk outside, her head peering through the door way innocently.

Ino growled under her throat. " Then why were Hinata and I chosen for this mission as well?" She said through gritted teeth.

This time Tsunade was the one to raise a golden eyebrow. "Would you rather not go? You made all of that fuss at the Festival so I assumed it held some importance to you that the villages would be united under a treaty, or was I mistaken in thinking your skills would be useful? Especially if this is just a trap to send out our shinobi? And the Mist has no real intentions of joining in the treaty? As well as Hinata. Your spying skills would be very useful on this mission, and I thought you two best for the job, especially with your improving skills." Tsunade said, a sly smile flickering over her lips briefly, before her face returned to that of utter seriousness.

"You are to read the scrolls for the instructions for your mission, dismissed."

--

Ino read over her scroll carefully, a smug smile passing over her lips. "To Suna it is." She said quietly, her eyes flickering over to Hinata and Naruto. "If you two will be ready in the next couple of hours, we can leave immediately."

Hinata and Naruto nodded in agreement, before turning away. "Hai." She watched as they both turned their separate ways.

A small smile played on her lips as she walked into her apartment and started to pack her things. "Guess I'm useful after all."

* * *

Ino stood at the entry gates with her eyes set up on the clouds, her fingers clutching the straps of her bag as she kicked her own heels. She watched the sun light pour over Konoha's walls with a smile, but her heart was clenching.

What would Shikamaru say when she showed up in Suna?

A smirk played on her lips. He would be surprise when she showed up with the welcome wagon. The image in her head was almost comical, _the way his jaw would fluctuate up and down as he tried to form words, the way his forever bored gaze would light up with surprise, his eyes slightly bulging as she sauntered over and pushed his jaw up._

She put her hands on her hips and grinned impishly, her eyes skimming over the light green leaves. She wondered how long the journey to meet up with the wagon with the ambassodor would take, hopefully not too long. She raised an eyebrow as two forms suddenly appeared in the distance; Hinata, and Naruto. Both coming from opposite directions, opposite ends of town. Ino smiled, watching their shadows hit them pavement.

She turned on her heels towards them as they drew closer, the smile vanshing from her face as she took on mission mode. It was time to get serious.

"Okay so before we go we need to come up with a plan." She said, her eyes raising up from the scroll she held in her hand as if to inquire if any one of them objected. They did not.

"Alright, well as clear as day it says that I am team leader on the bottom of the scroll."

Indeed it did:

**Team leader: Yamanaka Ino**

It was written in bold letters on the Mission Scroll, Ino looked up to see Naruto rolling his eyes. Her teeth ground together.

"So I am estimating that it will take us at least the rest of the day, maybe more to reach the border of Fire Country, where we will be meeting with the Ambassador and his company." Ino said, her eyes flickering over the mission scroll repeatedly, like she had watched Shikamaru's do a million times.

"But you d-don't know t-that for a fact?" Hinata said, her face slightly tinted pink from her close proximity to Baruto, who stood oblivious to the whole thing and just nodded in agreement with her.

"Well I'm not a hundred percent accurate, Shikamaru normally does the time thing- but we will be close no doubt about that!" Ino rounded, her eyes slanting at the two before her. "So do we have any questions before we head out?" She said, pivoting on her heel towards the Gates.

"Nah." Naruto said, adjusting his pack and walking up to Ino's side.

"Then let's go." She said loudly, as she pushed herself off of the ground and into the trees, her chakra enhanced feet pushing her quickly from one tree to the next. "We are going to stay off the roads as not to draw attention, stay in the cover of the trees, it is quicker this way."

Again she did what Shikamaru had done. She was so used to this routine that she would often mouth the words behind his back as they ran, causing Chouji to roll his eyes and chuckle every time.

Ino looked back at her companions with a slight smile, maybe this would work.

--

This will absolutely not work! Ino thought, growling as night came along and Naruto was whining for a break.

She looked at him, slightly older.

His build was more stocky, his shoulders widely spread and he stood at least a head taller than herself, a head shorter than Shikamaru. His blond hair still unruly as ever, his cerulean eyes further spaced than when he was younger, his chin more square shaped and pronounced, and of course his hair was longer, his arms slightly built and his legs long.

Ino growled. Wasn't he supposed to mature too? His body had. So why hadn't his mind? She rolled her eyes as they jumped from the trees and stood between a tall oak and a spruce, her blue ovals shimmering in the dusk atmosphere.

"A-ano," Hinata started nervously, as she pulled an energy bar from her pocket. "Here Naruto-kun, we will half it."

Ino nodded in agreement, that would be much quicker, and they wouldn't need to stop and make a fire.

"Arigato hinata-chan- but I want ramen!" He said with a foxy grin, his eyes flickering over to Ino. "Pleaaaaaaase?"

Ino rolled her eyes, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground.

She remembered when she was the one to make those puppy dog eyes at Shikamaru, and how he would give in every time. Her heart suddenly went soft, but she was different than she had been as a younger adult, her eyebrow sprang up.

"No Naruto, those puppy dog eyes will not work on me...I invinted that look." She said, smirking as he turned away dejectedly.

She watched Hinata smile, then giggle at Naruto's antics. "Nor will it w-work with me, N-naruto-kun." She said, her arms reaching up, but she immediately put them down.

Ino smiled, she knew that the Hyuuga was really trying ot relax, and not fidget around him. She was so proud of her friend for improving herself. It was a good change.

Naruto turned on his heel with a pout, his arms crossing over his chest and his eyes narrowing, making his face resemble that of a fish. "That's unfair." He murmured, walking ahead.

He looked back with a glare. "Well if we aren't going to stop for ramen, then what are we waiting for, we got a mission to complete!"

Ino smiled and took a second glance at Hinata, who also nodded.

"Then let's get moving." Ino called, jumping back into the cover of the trees.

* * *

They arrived at the camp shortly after the sun had completely disappeared behind the treeline. Ino was the first to walk up to the camp fire, where seven men sat around.

"Are you the Ambassadors we have been looking for?" Ino called, her hand propped upon her hip, a gentle smile on her face as they turned around with shocked expressions, they all jumped back from the fire, but Ino merely laughed. "We are the Shinobi from Konohagakure." She stated, motioning to her comrades and herself.

"Hello then miss.." A voice called from her right, Ino turned toward the voice.

There stood a man, shirtless leaning against the tail of the wagon, his eyes lined with age and knowledge, but his chest was well toned, like that of a thirty year old man, instead of a fifty year old ambassador.

She instantly smiled, her eyes flickering over his short cut grey hair. The robes that hung from his elbows suggested that he was a fairly wealthy man, from Mist.

"Yamanaka." She said, walking over to shake his hand.

"Yamanaka-san, it is an honor." He said, bringing her hand to his lips. He looked up at her, his trimmed grey eyebrows hiding his expression as he pecked a kiss against her knuckles.

When he released her she instantly returned that hand to her hip.

"As it is to my comrades and I to meet you, Mr. Karada."

The man simply smiled, the smile lines making his handsome features more profound. Ino turned her gaze to the men at the fire, who had calmed down some what.

"If you don't mind Mr. Karada, we are in a hurry to get you to Suna safely, so we will be leaving in the morning, dawn preferably." She said as he walked towards the fire.

"Yes yes, dawn is the plan," He said, flashing her his handsome smile once again. "You hear that men? Dawn."

All the men mumbled in agreement.

Ino merely raised an eyebrow as she watched them all scatter to their tents.

She turned to her comrades who simply nodded back at her. They would all take turns watching over the camp.

* * *

(1) When I said it made her heart flutter- it was just meant that she missed the lazy draw, the lazy look from Shikamaru, so Kakashi's mannerisms were reminding her of Shikamaru.


	3. Chapter 3, Sweet Surprises

**disclaimer: I don't 'Naruto'. **

**Chapter Three**

**-Sweet Surprises-**

* * *

**(Ino)**

Dawn came too early for Ino.

As the gentle array of sunbeams poured over the grass, Ino lifted her arms for a long stretch, listening to her back crackle and pop in protest. She smiled as she stood, taking in a deep, lengthy, lung filling breath as her cerulean eyes scoured over the hills in front of them.

It was amazing how the scenery changed as you got further away from Konoha, and soon the ever green hills would turn into dunes of golden sand. She scowled at the thought of sand.

Ino hated Suna, mainly because of the humidity, but because of some of the 'people' she would have to put up with when she got there. That mainly pertaining to the Kazekage's brother and sister. Her scowl only increased as she turned to find the entire camp quiet. Didn't they take her seriously when she said dawn.

Ino's eyes flickered over to the fire, where a pot and a wooden spoon hung forgotten over the burnt out embers.

Ino strolled quietly over to the pot, her eyes flickering menacingly as she grabbed the spoon and took a deep, calming breath.

"RISE AND SHINE!" She yelled, clanging the spoon against the pot as she walked calmly around the camp, a smirk flickering across her pale lips as she heard the groaning of the men. "We leave in ten."

--

Ino yawned as she looked back at the wagons, Hinata and Naruto sitting with the men from the campfire as they watched the men steer the cattle pulling the cargo.

She was not interested in such. She had enough of farm animals, especially the grazing kind. Her lips twitched with the memory of her first time feeding the deer at the Nara compound. She shook her head, no use thinking of something uneventful.

Ino stretched her arms above her head, letting them rest as she drank in the scenery.

That was one part of her job that she simply wouldn't regret, the sites.

Being a Shinobi meant traveling, and that meant she got to see the world- well...at least a portion of it. And what she had seen so far, it had been amazing.

The trees were so different here, like Christmas trees, the whole forest was. It was made of Cedar and fur, some Evergreen sprawled about if she looked close enough. And it wasn't even the forest exactly that amazed her, because she grew up running around in the woods. It was the size of the trees, like the ones from the Genin exams.

Ino sighed as she looked at the path, noticing that the further they traveled, the more scarce the trees were becoming, and that little by little there was more dirt on the path.

Ino sighed. They were at the border of The Hidden Sand.

* * *

**(Shikamaru)**

Shikamaru awoke to the sun shining down in his eyes.

The sun? Since when did he have a window in his room? Shikamaru growled as he lazily pushed himself over with a grunt. His arm immediately slinging over his eyes in a lazy manner, he sat up slowly, huffing and puffing as he squinted under his he most certainly was in the same room he fell asleep in.

Shikamaru's eyes rested on his pants that were kicked over in the far corner, as his hand came up to wipe his face thoroughly.

He scrubbed his eyes and mouth as he stood upon wobbling feet, teetering over side ways as he made his way over to his bag.

He bent down and examined it, his fingers clutching the zipper tightly as he pulled the troublesome thing open and searched deep in his bag for his clothes. Shikamaru pulled out a pair of black pants, identical to the last, and a black fishnet top, while fishing around for a new pair of boxers. He groaned, remembering that the only pair he had with him (that were relatively clean) was the ones that were currently wrapped around his waist. He sighed. He knew he would regret not bringing Ino along. She always did his packing. Always.

With a sigh he stood, pressing his feet through the legs of his pants, and pulling the cloth up to his waist, were he secured the button before bending down and stretching the fishnet over his ponytail, which still stood perfectly erect on the back of his head, even through sleep, and grabbed his shoes, pulling them over his feet with a grimace, noting that they were filled with dust.

That was one of the things he disliked about Suna. All the dust, or sand that accumulated in his shoes.

With a click of his tongue he walked over to his dirty trousers, and pried the shining silver coin piece from his pocket, and twirled it around his fingers.

With a stiffled yawn he pulled his door open, and peered down the hall way. It appeared no one was alive and running yet, so he slipped out of his room as quietly as possible, and headed for the winding staircase that would lead him to the city.

With a groan that was slightly more forced than it should have been, he opened the door and squinted , his hand raising to immediately block the sun's harmful rays, that always seemed to find their way to his eyes. He sighed, and stepped out of the door frame, the door slamming loudly behind him.

Well if his grunting and shuffling hadn't woken the Shinobi inside, that most certainly would. Shikamaru merely shrugged and began his descent down the stair well of doom, his hand firmly pressed against the wall for support. He briefly wondered why the architect put the stairs on the outside wall. What was the point? Well he supposed that it prevented the idea of a break in, for people could see you climbing up the tower from across the village, he felt slightly insecure about that fact. He also supposed that it was cost affect, as most things were these days, what with it being that these buildings were made to be structurally sound. That built up his confidence quite a bit, and so he decided, since no one was looking, he would take his hand away from the wall, even for just a moment. Wrong move.

As soon as his hand left the wall he felt his head start to spin, and he immediately stopped, his head tipping to the side, giving him a perfectly good view of the drop. Needless to say he was practically sidling against the wall like a thief, who was going down the building..

Once Shikamaru made it safely to the bottom, he threw the building a hateful glare and made his way out of the alley ways, his eyes ahead of him. The same drowsy expression holding his eyelids half lidded, while he stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and tilted his head back.

If there was one good thing Shikamaru could say about Suna, it was that they had clear blue skies, fit for cloud watching.

* * *

**(Ino)**

Her hands were on her hips as they finally parted the forest. Her eyes squinted as she looked out at the flat- nothing in sight for miles upon miles- No Where Land. Suddenly, her mood turned sour as she walked to the wagon, climbing up the small ladder and sitting beside Mr. Karada.

"If we can keep a steady pace we will make it by at least dusk." She said, looking over at his aged features, her scowl still etched onto her own.

" I see," He whispered, his eyes searching over the barren land with a scowl of his own. Suddenly he turned, and leaned dangerously over the edge, his head looking back and his eyes squinted. "Move out." He called back, as he shook the reins, which caused the wagon to jerk slightly as the cows mooed and grunted along.

Ino laid her head against her palm, her feet curling up beside her on the small bench. She felt her eyes droop in tiredness, as her hand automatically went to her hair, where she wrapped her fingers around in her own golden tresses.

Karada looked down at her with a soft, pleasant smile. "What's bothering you?" He asked quietly, his eyes meeting her own as she peered up at him.

"Nothing in particular. just hate the land." She sighed, her gaze returning to the sand in front of them. That was all they would be seeing for hours. And Ino was not pleased in the slightest.

"Ah I see." He replied, his gaze breaking away from her and returning back to the cows.

"I'm going to go speak with my team, will you be alright here by yourself?" She asked, her voice not really portraying any emotion.

Karada merely nodded his head, and watched Ino jump off the side of the wagon and walk away.

--

Ino looked out over the blue sand with a hand held to shield her eyes, although it was night time, she was having a hard time seeing. "I can see the walls of Suna." She announced from the roof of the wagon.

She jumped down with ease, eyeing Naruto and Hinata as her eyes darted about their small make shift camp. "Ten minutes till departure, Hinata, you and I will scout the area while Naruto watches over base."

The Hyuuga heiress merely nodded, "Hai." And turned on her feet, activating her Byakuugan as she jumped away. Ino following in suit behind her, she grasped Hinata's elbow and pulled her back, her eyes full of some strange emotion.

"I have a strange feeling about these men." She said, her eyes darting about suspiciously as she took a second glance back at the wagons.

Hinata nodded in agreement. "They seem far to friendly for ambassadors."

Ino's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about that statement. She found it to be true, although she did not know about the affairs of wealth and business of that nature, she trusted Hinata's judgement.

"Yeah, it is almost like they are pretending." Ino bit her lip.

Kami she wished Shikamaru was here, He would know what to do. But he wasn't here, and she most certainly was not going to ask for his help anytime soon. Ino pressed her hands against her hips in frustration.

It would be too suspicious to turn them back now, and she very well couldn't be making accusations against them, in fear that they would cancel the treaty, which would mean more war between the nations. Ino sighed heavily as she looked at the girl in front of her. "Well we will just have to be careful, report any suspicious activity to me-" Suddenly Ino turned around and stalked back to camp, forcing a cheerful smile upon her face. "Let's get moving!"

* * *

**(Shikamaru)**

Shikamaru stood up from his spot in the sand, brushing his pants and shirt off as looked up at the setting sun.

How long had he been asleep? He didn't know..An hour? three hours? The day was slow, time just seemed to waste away as he lay there, watching the puffy water masses float by lazily.

Shikamaru sighed heavily, his eyelids drooping tiredly as he dragged his feet through the sand. He wondered if anyone had searched for him? Possibly not, or someone would have come along. He was glad he got to rest his troubles off today, because tomorrow was when the real work was going to begin.

Shikamaru let his eyes wander back to the sky as he walked back to the tower, the same, brightly glowing star catching his eye. He wondered what it's name was. Maybe he should ask Ino next time he saw her? Nah. She'd probably still be upset with him whenever he got back, if he got back. Shikamaru sighed and folded his arms behind his head, his feet dragging along in the sand, until he looked up at the Gates.

There was something going on- shikamaru blinked and stood up straight, his arms fallign to his sides as he rushed to the gate, watching as the guards pulled upon the thick brown ropes.

The doors creaked to a stop, protesting against any further movement as they reached their half way mark. Shikamaru watched the dust settle, his eyes widening as he watched his blond haired teammate walk through the gates.

"I-Ino?"

* * *

Drop by and leave a review for me.

Sorry it is so short, but I wanted to get that out of the way, It was jsut too troublesome to make a big long chapter out of nothign really. And you got some important facts somewhere in there..if you looked. So please dont hate me.

The next chapter will be long and event filled! I PROMISE!


	4. Chapter 4, Ode to The Sand

**disclaimer: I don't 'Naruto'. **

**Chapter Four**

**-Ode to the Sand-**

* * *

**(Ino)**

Ino stood patiently, her hands on her hips as she watched the hinges of the great wooden gate peel back from the sand barrier, her eyes flickering closed as the dust from beneath shot out from the air, like steam from a wounded pipe.

She pressed her eyes into the crook of her elbow and coughed as the sand shot up her nostrils, causing her to get a mouthful of dirt. She scowled, her hands returning to her hips as she coughed the remainder of the grit out of her mouth, chewing impatiently on her tongue. She hurriedly pressed through the gates, her eyes resting on a familiarly lanky figure.

"I-Ino?"

_"That'd be me."_She hissed through gritted teeth, forcing herself to smile, or rather to look like a constipated llama.

Ino felt her blood start to boil, the warm feeling surging up her neck and into her face as she turned on her heel, and motioned for the wagons to enter.

She could feel him beside her, watching her as she backed up, still motioning for Karada to bring the wagon through the wide gateway. But she did not spare him a second glance, he could look at her all he wanted and not get a word from her.

Ino suddenly sprang back into mission mode, her eyes darting over the wagons in inspection, before she climbed onto the small ladder and started unloading her things. She handed Hinata her canteen, and Naruto his box filled with instant ramen, before jumping off the top wrung of the latter and starting for Kankurou, who sat on the railing of the stairs that lead up to the watching post.

"Hey Puppet man, come help unload our ambassador's things." She barked, tapping her foot impatiently as she looked up at the man, who only smirked under his painted face. She felt a scowl flutter across her features.

"What are you doing here, Blondie?" He asked, sliding down the banister and looking down his nose at her.

Ino scoffed,"What does it look like?I was sent here on a mission." She immediately turned on her heel, and stalked back over to Mr. Karada, her shoulder sliding against Shikamaru's a little more roughly than she had meant it too. She frowned, noting that he did not even look back at her as she passed, but he followed her to the wagon, and started to help unload.

"Mr. Karada," Ino said kindly, taking the large bag he had lugged all the way from Mist with a grunt. "Because I am a nice host, I will escort you to the Kazekage's building instead of that -"

Kankurou snatched the bag away from her with a smile. "If you will please follow me sir," He bowed slightly, his eyes still stuck on Ino's as he glared hatefully. "I am Kankurou, the Kazekage's brother, so if you have any needs at all feel free to ask me, and if they are reasonable I will be able to deliver."

He smirked as he returned to an upright position and turned on his heels, leaving Ino to huff and puff as she grabbed her own bags and threw them out the front of the wagon.

"You need help?" She heard his lazy voice drawl from behind her, but she merely threw a canteen in his direction. "Are you going to ignore me?" He asked, his hand suddenly on her shoulder as he bent down beside her and picked up the extra canvas, rolling it into a sloppy fold and tying it to the inside wicker bars that supported the wagons' canvas ceiling so that it would not blow away.

Ino did not answer him, but she did snatch her things off of the ground, and sling them over her shoulder.

She felt her chest tighten as she walked away from him.

How long would she have to put up with him before she could go home? Did she have to escort these men back to their land once they finished the arrangements? Or would their alliances with Suna, if they were made, bring them back? She did not know. All she knew was that she was mad as hell and she wasn't ready to play nice with Shikamaru. He was going to regret not bringing her along! Especially after that... _Your skills are not needed_, comment.

What kind of negotiation mission didn't require her skills? She could remember at least two she had been on that her skills were useful. But that wasn't the problem, Shikamaru had just not wanted her to be in his way. _Well if he didn't want me in his way_, She thought, looking back to see that he was walking behind her, with his head downcast, _I wont get in it_.

* * *

**(Shikamaru)**

Shikamaru sighed as she walked past him, his eyes on her back as she adjusted the packs she held. His eyes flickered up to her hair, where the purple flower glinted in the pale street lamp ahead. A small smile broke against his lips as he carefully strode forward, so that they were side to side, peering over at her from the corner of his eye.

**Kami she was mad**. He could feel the anger radiating off of her like waves, but she did not say anything, which was unusual for Ino, Who usually spoke her mind without fear of consequences. Maybe she had grown up slightly, He could not remember the last actual conversation he held with her, because he had been so busy during these last three months with missions and training and ANBU.

He sighed exasperatedly and pressed his empty hands deep into his pockets, where he played the coin between his fingers. He let his eyes meet hers briefly. "Thank you for the Birthday present." He mumbled as they started up the stairs, his hand immediately connecting with the wall.

Ino looked him over before nodding and shoving her way past him.

Shikamaru sighed again, how was he supposed to talk it out if she was going to be a mute the whole way through it? He shook his head, he would just have to wait until he got off of these damned stairs.

He let his eyes rest on the swinging blond mass of hair in front of him, as she gracefully ascended the stairs without so much as a grunt or deep breath.

Shikamaru on the other hand, was slightly warn out from exertion, noting that it was harder to breath as he neared the top, one hand clutched his side while the other clutched the wall, and suddenly Ino was upon him, scowling as she dropped her bags on the balcony, and grabbed his vest.

"You wouldn't be huffing like a cow if you didn't smoke like a chimney." She growled, her fingers suddenly digging in his front pocket and pulling his cigarettes from his pocket.

"Hey now, you don't see me taking your shit-" He started, before Ino whirled around, her hair striking him painfully across the face as she skipped to the door, waiting.

"Hey," Naruto said from behind him, Shikamaru merely glanced over his shoulder. "These bags are heavy...can we get going Shikamaru?" He whimpered, struggling with both his own bags and Hinata's.

"Naruto-kun, I-I said I could g-get my own t-things." She stuttered, her fingers twitching nervously by her side.

"Nonsense Hinata-chan," Naruto grinned, his face turning red as he struggled to stand. "I've made it this far...no going back now!"

"W-well if you insist," She sighed from behind.

Shikamaru merely glanced at them before striding over to the door with a scowl, and reluctantly holding it open.

He waited until Ino had walked through, not glancing back for Naruto as he side stepped in beside her, clutching her shoulder tightly.

"What is your problem lately, Ino?" He murmured, his voice so quiet he had to strain to hear them himself.

Ino shook her shoulder out of his death grip. "I should ask you the same, going out of your way to talk to me." She huffed, slinging her ponytail over her shoulder and walking off towards the Guest Wing.

"What is that supposed to mean, 'Go out of my way for you'?" He scowled as the feeling of dread swept over him, his legs moving a bit more quickly than he would have normally done to keep up with her.

Ino whirled upon him again, her finger darting out to prod him in the chest repeatedly as she spoke. "You never make the effort for anything, I was simply wondering why you would make the time to talk to me when you have no intentions of being- you know what? I don't even know why I am even talking to you, asshole." She growled through gritted teeth, as she once again turned away from him.

This time Shikamaru did not follow, he simply watched as she walked down the hall, and turned towards the Guest Rooms. He briefly wondered how she knew where they were, but then he remembered that they had been here before, on a different mission. Shikamaru scoffed, his blank expression sliding into one of indifference as he followed.

So she didn't want to talk, that was bearable. This just meant that his mission would be relatively quieter than usual. But still he frowned, he would rather have Ino screaming profanities at him than her not speaking to him at all. Suddenly, his stomach twisted into an anxious knot.

What exactly did she mean when she said, "You have not intention of being-?" Being what exactly? Shikamaru scowled and turned down the way Ino had gone, spotting her blond hair flipping around the corner towards Temari's room. Uh-oh. That was no where land, Shikamaru turned towards his door with a scowl, his hand jerking the knob far harder than he should have.

Shikamaru slammed his door angrily, his fist colliding with the wall repeatedly. Why was she being so infuriating? Shikamaru pealed his swollen knuckles from the sand wall, a deep growl emmiting from his throat as he kicked his sandals off. What made her get under his skin, he did not know, but she had always been able to do so. Always able to squirm her way against his nerves and lash out at them. She had the ability to piss him off, and that was no small feat.

Shikamaru considered himself a simple man, not to good looking, not to extraordinary, not easily angered, and could be very compatible if the person he was with wasn't completely incompetent. He found out that most people he had ever met fit into that category. Shikamaru clenched his swollen fist, his rump falling into the wicker chair that sat lonely in the corner. He put his head in his hands, his fingers curling into his hair as he glared down at the floor. Why was he so angry over Ino?

He shook his head. No, It can't just be about her.

Shikamaru released his hair slowly, his back sliding against the back rest as his head flopped back. He gritted his teeth, his tongue clicking against the top of his mouth.

"It must be something else that is bothering me...and she is just adding to it." He decided, his hands coming to rest behind his head as he examined the ceiling. "But I don't know what."

**

* * *

**

**(Ino)**

Ino pressed her back against the opposite wall, her hand still outstretched from knocking on the door before her.

She watched at the knob turned slowly, and a dark tuft of hair poked out, dripping wet. "Whadda ya want blondie?" Kankurou leered as he squeezed out of his door.

Ino raised a perfectly shaped brow, her head cocking to the side with a smirk. "Who you got in there puppet boy? Your boyfriend?"

Kankurou grinned back at her lecherously, his hand flashing up to cup her cheek. Ino flicked his wrist away without a second glance. "Maybe, would it get me any further to say yes?"

"No, fortunately, it would not." She said simply, readjusting the pack that hung from her shoulder. "I was wondering which room I would be staying in?"

Kankurou rolled his eyes and held his hand up, before sliding back into his room to retrieve a robe, and mutter something to the person inside.

"He said that your missing out."

Ino laughed. "So is it that female guard from last time I walked in on you..or is it some other woman?"

"Yeah, same one." He said absent mindedly, his feet hitting the floor loudly as he made his way down the hall.

Ino watched him carefully. The way he held his back straight, the way his shoulders leaned to each side as he took another way he limped. She frowned. "So it is a man." She said, walking slightly faster so that she could keep up with him. Kankurou merely sent her a toothy grin, before leaning over and tapping on a door. No answer, he opened it and waved at her to go inside.

"Ja ne." He murmered, brushing his finger tips over her cheek before making his way back down the hall. Ino shuddered in disgust as she slipped through the door.

* * *

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	5. Sweet Steam Blowing

**disclaimer: I don't 'Naruto'. **

**Chapter Five**

**-Negotiations-**

* * *

**(Shikamaru)**

Shikamaru Nara dragged his tired body up through the winding hallways. **Everything hurt**. He'd exhausted the majority of his chakra reserve releasing his stress from his confrontation with Ino, rationing the rest of his _sanity_as best he could to make sure he would get Sakura to heal his wounds later that day that he'd sustained during his...outburst. But now he was back and he wanted nothing more than to sleep as he stalked the halls, to fall so far into slumber he was considered, legally dead.

He didn't know what had made him teeter over the edge of his breaking point, but Ino was involved, Shikamaru bit his lip in agitation. How could something completely normal (Ino being upset with him, that is) be the cause of all his troubles? Shikamaru sighed as he pressed a hand against the cold, sand walls of the hall way, his fingers tracing the bumps and pits in it's surface as he dragged his feet along.

His knuckles hurt, painfully as he pressed his hand more heavily on the wall for support. He didn't know when he lost control of his inner battle, but he was dearly regretting it as he stumbled through the darkness...

Stumbling down the dimly lit hallways, the Shadow user finally made it to his own 'personal chambers' as he liked to think of it, barely mustering the state of mind to kick the door shut behind him. Shikamaru's heart beat was beginning to settle down to a mere, thump thump- thump thump. He scoffed as he took a much needed, deep breath, gaging on the odor that protruded from his body.. Screw getting changed; he could clean himself up in the morning- oh it was morning, three o' clock to be exact.

For the past three months it had been nothing but work work..and more work, everything from formal paperwork, to field work, to new strategy testing "only he could do".

And he'd be damned if he let anyone keep him from his rest this time around. He thought himself very worthy of a good night's rest.

He collapsed in a heap on his rather large futon, filth and all. However, as his face smacked against the pillow, dreariness left him. Before he could allow himself the blissful release of unconsciousness, Shikamaru propped himself upon his elbow and slid a finger in his sandal, prying them off eagerly as he flopped back on the futon.

He let out a rather exasperated sigh. "I have to get up at ten." He grumbled, shifting under the covers with a groan, he slipped his hand under the pillow, shivering at the cool contact to his heated skin. It was then that he noticed that he was burning up. He grumbled, letting his eyes fall shut quietly, his other hand shakily raising to release his hair from the elastic that held it up, relieving himself of the splitting headache he had endured for hours while venting his frustrations on a rather undeserving practice dummy.

--

There was no way of knowing exactly how long he'd been asleep, but Shikamaru knew that it couldn't have been very long, because the sun light was not shining in from the window.

"Shikamaru, wake up."

Shikamaru groaned, flinging his arm out wildly to stop the hushed whisper. He felt contact, his hand repeatedly pushing another away as they tried to shake him, but he would have none of it, and so he turned towards the hand, grabbing the fingers and bending them back as he pried his eyes open, meeting familiar green ovals, that shimmered dangerously in the lamp light.

"Let. Go." Sakura managed through gritted teeth as she glared down at him.

Shikamaru immediately recoiled, his hands coming up to wipe at his eyes feverishly, before he blinked at her in confusion. "What do you need?" He grumbled, one eye sliding shut as he flopped back onto the futon.

"I felt your chakra fluctuating, so I came to heal you while you slept...it is a good thing you are such a sound sleeper." She smiled, a soft laugh escaping her lips as Shikamaru's other eye pried open.

"What time is it?" He asked, his voice still deep from tiredness.

"Almost dawn." She whispered, shifting through the crack of the door, her head the last thing to be removed as she made her way back to her room.

"I should get up then." He sighed, rolling out of the sheets of his futon, and onto his hands and knees, where he crawled over to his bag and unceremoniously grabbed the zipper and began to, rather pathetically, groan as he tried to pry the zipper down. Which he could not do with his numb fingers.

He growled in frustration, picking the zipper up with clumsy fumbling appendages, he brought it to his teeth and pulled, shivering as the vibrations as each notch rattled his teeth.

He finally got the blasted thing open, his fingers groping around the bottom of his bag for his tooth brush, and some decent clothing, which he found rolled up at the bottom corner. He growled when he shook them out, realizing that they were rinkled from hell and back, he through them on the floor and grabbed the bag with one hand, while the other searched frantically around until he found it- a new hair tie.

He sighed in releif as he sat back on his knees, his hands automatically gathering up his things, he tucked them under his arm, and struggled to his feet. His knees crackling and grinding together in protest, his heels creaking as he took each step.

A tuft of Dark, Chocolate brown hair shoved it's way out of Shikamaru's door, followed by the lanky ninja himself. Sporting some very dark green boxers, and a very distinguished farmer's tan, he scurried out of the Guest Chambers, and sneaked into the Men's onsen, smiling to himself when he noticed it was empty. Perfect.

Shikamaru looked over at the water with appreciative eyes, a small sparkle in that dim, forever bored expression as he slid his thumbs under the elastic of his boxers, and pushed them down past his knees, before stepping out of them and folding them on the bench, and hung his dark, forest green towel on the rack, his hands rubbing together anxiously.

--

As Shikamaru lowered himself into the water, he felt all of his senses cut loose, and his back arched involuntarily towards the rocky sides of the Onsen.

Shikamaru took a slow, deep, thoughtful breath as he brought his hands up to his face, frowning down at the expression in his palms, he splashed the water onto his face with a groan, his toes flexing as he laid his head against the side of the hot spring bath.

Oh yes, Shikamaru could definitely do this more often.

**Psh**, like he had time.

Shikamaru scoffed as he abruptly sat up, then dunked his whole head under the steaming water, his eyes screwed shut so tightly that he thought they might fall back into his head, he emerged from the water, gasping for air as he did so.

He wiped his face repeatedly, his hands coming to rest on his neck as he leaned against the side, his elbows propped up in a lazy manner.

Shikamaru sighed, before standing up abruptly.

"Time to get out...or I will never leave." He told himself quietly as he stood, toweling off his dripping legs , the other smaller, white towel flung over his head.

Shikamaru thought back upon his wake up call with Sakura, why hadn't that alarmed him? He did not know.

How could he not think of Sakura just magically appearing in the night as a strange thing? Shouldn't she have been asleep? Or perhaps at least in her own side of the Guest Wing?

Shikamaru shook his head, _not like it matters_, He thought drearily as he pulled his pants on, completely disregarding the pair of smelly forest green boxers that hung before him, he cautiously pulled his zipper up- making sure nothing got caught in the metal teeth before pulling a fishnet top on, and re-tying his hitai-ate to his left shoulder, he stretched, fingers curling as he yawned quite loudly.

_Time for work_, He thought, throwing his towel over his shoulder, and scowling as he slipped out of the door.

His hand was upon the wall immediately, guiding himself back towards his room through the hallway, which actually wasn't as far away as it seemed.

--

He sat in the small chair, the many situations flickering in his mind's eye, all his thoughts being sorted mentally, and filed. He unrolled a red scroll,his fingers brushing over the blank parchment, causing it to ignite, ink suddenly appearing with the help of his chakra.

Shikamaru brought a hand to his face, scanning over the scroll for key words of his mission, while not really absorbing them. He sat back, his head swirling nauseatingly as he pressed the pads of his fingers against his eyelids, breathing out a heavy sigh.

It was all too true that he had been working his tail off, in fact he couldn't even remember a day that he had not had **some** kind of work to do.

He sighed again, leaning back against his chair, and letting his head fall lifelessly to the side. He wondered how much longer he would have to be here, how much longer Ino, more specifically, would have to stay. He didn't want to have to put up with both her and Temari, especially at the same time.

Shikamaru inwardly groaned at that prospect, his hand slapping down onto his face a tad harder than he had intended, his eyes screwing up so tightly that he began to see colors dance inside of his eyelids.

Suddenly, he stood, his hands dropping the scroll and kicking it towards his bag, as he bent down and grabbed his vest.. It was almost ten already? How long had he sat in the darkness?

* * *

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